Blood and deceit replace goodwill at the Berlin Olympics

The 2008 Beijing Games is not the only Olympics that has been hijacked by politics.

When the French nobleman Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympic Games in 1894, he wanted the event to be a triumph of sportsmanship and human spirit.

The five entwined rings - the Olympic symbol - represent the five continents and the unity of the world.

But de Coubertin's ideals of peace and solidarity have been eclipsed by national rivalry and racial discord. The notorious 1936 Berlin Olympics was used by German dictator Adolf Hitler to showcase fascism. Hitler's racist strategy tarnished the image of the Games.

The deadly Palestinian terrorist attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics (left) shocked the world. Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg's Munich revolved around the killing of Israeli athletes at the Olympic village.

African nations boycotted the 1976 Montreal Olympics in protest against the white regime in South Africa.